Malaysia Maintains Over 50 Per Cent Of Land Under Forest Cover

KUALA LUMPUR, April 22 (Bernama) — Malaysia currently maintains more than 50 per cent of its land under forest cover, according to the Natural Resources and Environment Ministry. Total land area under forests in Malaysia stood at 18.48 million hectares (ha) or 56.4 percent of its total land area, as of 2010. “The government is committed to managing the forest in line with the practices of sustainable forest management. “And we strongly uphold the government’s commitment to improve the livehood of the people while fulfilling obligations in eradicating poverty,” said the ministry statement. The government, it said, had dedicated a total of 1.83 million hectares as a network of protected areas for the conservation of biological diversity. They include reserve forests, national parks, wildlife reserves and sanctuaries, nature reserves, bird sanctuaries and marine parks. The ministry noted that under a national tree-planting campaign, Malaysia had planted 8.5 million trees covering an area of 9,611 hectares as of last month. — BERNAMA